News & Insights
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended June 13
Inflation wait A monthly report on U.S. consumer prices showed that inflation remained somewhat muted, which eased concerns about the potentially inflationary impact from elevated tariffs. On a month-to-month basis, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in May, less than most economists had expected. The annual inflation rate was 2.4%—in line with expectations and near […]
First Trust: Thoughts On Inflation
Back during the Financial Panic of 2008, clickbait media kept screaming “Hyperinflation.” We consistently pushed back against this theme, and argued inflation would not accelerate. Yes, Quantitative Easing and zero percent interest rates, which Ben Bernanke invented at the time, massively increased the size of the Fed’s balance sheet and boosted cash deposits and reserves […]
Visual Capitalist: Who Gains Most From ‘Made In America’?
Mapped: U.S. Manufacturing Jobs by State President Trump has championed the idea that a key part of making America great again is bringing back industries that left the country in recent decades. With his tariff-driven trade policy, the White House has promoted “Made in America” as a way to create jobs and boost the economy. […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Ended June 6
Resilient labor market Stock indexes posted the week’s biggest daily gains on Friday after an employment report modestly exceeded expectations. The economy generated 139,000 new jobs in May, above consensus expectations of around 130,000. However, initial estimates for the previous two months’ gains were revised downward by a total of 95,000. The unemployment rate held […]
LPL: Where Have All The (Duration) Buyers Gone?
It has seemingly been a one-way move higher in longer-term interest rates in May, with the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield above 5% again and higher by 0.36% this month alone. Additionally, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield breached 4.5%, up 0.35% in May alone. The reasons for the sell-off are many: elevated inflation expectations, a Federal […]
Visual Capitalist: U.S. And China’s Combined GDP Equals 184 Countries
Key Takeaways The two largest economies have a combined GDP that equals almost the entire rest of world’s. The U.S. and Chinese economies together amount to $50 trillion. The entire rest of the world—excluding Germany, Japan, and India—also has an economic output of $50 trillion. The U.S. and China are in the midst of their […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended May 30
May’s rebound After a volatile and mostly negative April, the major U.S. stock indexes generated strongly positive results in May. The NASDAQ finished about 9.6% higher for the month while the S&P 500 gained 6.2% and the Dow added 3.9%. Information technology stocks led the broader market, with the S&P 500’s tech sector up more […]
First Trust: Debt Downgrade Drama And The Budget
Moody’s finally downgraded US government debt on May 16th to Aa1, its second highest rating. With the US $36 trillion (and rising) in debt, it’s not hard to see why. But Moody’s was late to the party with S&P and Fitch (the other two major ratings agencies) having done so long ago. The financial media […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended May 23
Gold rebounds The price of gold climbed nearly 6% for the week to around $3,360 per ounce as the precious metal recovered all of the ground lost in the previous week’s decline. The latest week’s result extended a year-to-date rally that recently pushed gold to a record high of more than $3,400. Dollar’s decline […]
First Trust: Does Anyone Care That Keynesianism Doesn’t Work?
Milton Friedman, Art Laffer and other market-believing economists had their long day in the sun during the 1980s and 1990s. Tax rates fell and government spending declined relative to GDP. But – ironically, in the long run, and long after he passed away – John Maynard Keynes got his revenge. Whereas free-marketeers believed markets were […]